Search

On Monday I managed to avoid writing about the depressing news of Cody’s closing, but I can’t avoid it any longer. When I read on Sunday that Cody’s was closing, I was surprised and upset. I remember going to Cody’s on Telegraph during my first year in the Bay Area, marveling at their selection, getting lost in their various specific sections, and often walking out with a magazine or a book. And whenever I needed a hard to find book, I always went there first, and if they didn’t have it, they ordered it for me.

I was devastated when they closed the Telegraph store (the 4th Street store was never as good and it was so far away), but I was excited a few months ago when they moved the store to downtown Berkeley. So I was shocked to hear that after being open for such a short time, they were calling it quits.

But today it got worse. DeLauer’s Newsstand is closing, today! DeLauer’s has been a part of downtown Oakland for more than a hundred years. While their selection has gone a bit downhill over the past few years, I can usually find any major paper there and often depend on the store for back issues. And they’re open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, making it practically the only downtown establishment that’s open past 8pm that doesn’t serve alcohol.

“Business is down so bad,” he said Tuesday from his Piedmont home. “We just can’t afford the rent. It’s up pretty high, up to $6,500 a month.”

Joseph Churchward, the store’s accountant for the past eight years, said DeLauer’s has been financially troubled for a long time.

“The industry is changing, and books, newspapers and magazines are dying,” Churchward said. “There have been great cost increases, and it’s time to shut the door.”

Last year, the company lost about $200,000, he said.

But the closure of DeLauer’s can’t just be attributed to the dying industry. There are many thriving independent bookstores in Oakland (and we better make sure to keep them that way). Part of the problem is being located in that part of downtown Oakland:

It’s not surprising DeLauer’s has suffered from a lack of foot traffic. The asphalt thread on Broadway between 13th and 14th has in the past several years become a magnet for homeless people, panhandlers and the mentally ill who live in nearby residential hotels. With bus and BART stops out front, groups often loiter on the sidewalks, asking for money and harassing passers-by.

“It’s an Oakland institution, but it’s a tough time for a business like that. Downtown needs some revitalization and we are working on that,” said Scott Peterson, public policy director for the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. “A business like that survives on foot traffic, and you need foot traffic that is going to spend money.”

In the past year, the Gap store on Broadway has moved from downtown as have the offices of the Oakland Tribune.

I don’t have much more to say about this, except that it’s incredibly depressing and makes me worry about the economic future of our city. The only upside is that representatives from Oakland Citizens Committee on Urban Renewal and the Oakland Private Industry Council have said they’re going to try to save DeLauer’s. I hope it’s not too late.

There aren’t “many thriving” indie bookstores in Oakland. I think there’s only one indie store devoted to new books in Oakland now — Diesel, and, from what I’ve read/know, Diesel has been struggling mightily for a long time. Mrs. Dalloway’s is in Berkeley, which replaced Avenue Books when it couldn’t hang on in that spot, and there’s Dark Carnival, too. Montclair has A Great Good Place for Books. It would be most helpful if folks shifted even 2 or 3 of their discount store (Costco, whatever) or Amazon book purchases to a store like Diesel; you’d see them staying in your neighborhoods for much longer if you redirected that small percentage of your book purchases. Seriously. I’m pretty sure the rest of the Oakland indie bookstore biz is predominantly used books, with maybe a small, curated new books section in most of them. Tho I understand Moe’s has been expanding their new books biz — but that’s not what keeps them in business. Some of these used books stores are fairing better than others, but I think you’d be surprised to know how many are barely hanging on. I correct you only because it would indeed be a dream come true if Oakland — and Berkeley — had “many thriving” indies; as it stands now, it’s only a dream.

CLH – In my mind, I never really separate used book stores from new books stores – I lump them together in one category. In north Oakland alone, we have three bookstores that seem to be thriving – Diesel (new), Pegasus (used & new), and Book Zoo (used). I know less about other neighborhoods though.

I agree that it’s so important to buy books locally. I only buy books online when I absolutely can’t find them anywhere else (and even then I feel guilty).

Hey there . . . I guess I’m recommending talking with the proprietors before conveying to the public that these businesses are thriving. I think if folks properly understood, in fact, how dire things are with our local bookstores, maybe they’d shift their routines a little. But that might be a little idealistic. And while I don’t privilege one shopping experience over another — I love any good bookstore — it’s a pretty critical moment when Berkeley has no new bookstores except chain ones — and when Oakland has only one.

Recent Posts

It’s been nearly two years since I’ve written anything here and nearly three years since I announced a “hiatus” for this blog, but as I was writing my endorsements to post on Facebook, I thought I should post them here as well. This will probably be my last blog post for a very long time, […]

Four years after several Oakland advocates, bloggers, and blog readers saved the space from becoming a surface parking lot, the Uptown Art Park is opening this Friday night! Thanks to hard work by staff in the City’s Public Art Program and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Oaklanders and Uptown visitors will soon […]

This guest blog post was written by Daniel Schulman, who first moved to Oakland in 1984. Following a multi-year break for graduate school and career, he returned to the city in 2001 where he has lived since. During that time, Dan has worked to improve Oakland’s livability while maintaining its unique character. He is a […]

This guest blog post was written by Josie Schimke, the Program Development Associate for the Black Rock Arts Foundation. Through her administrative and program support over the last five years for BRAF, Josie has had the privilege of watching promising art proposals mature into exceptional achievements of public art. The Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF) […]

This guest blog post was written by Josh Sonnenfeld, Campaign Manager for Save the Bay. This post is cross-posted from Save the Bay’s blog, one of the handful of environmental blogs I read regularly. If you care about the Bay, you should be reading it too. A gem at the heart of Oakland, Lake Merritt […]